Chico's Q2 revenue up 18 percent, profits widen

US women's clothing and accessories retailer Chico’s has reported an 18.4 percent increase in sales in the second quarter.

In the three months ending July 30, net sales were 558.7 million dollars, up from 472.1 million dollars a year earlier.

The company said this growth reflected a comparable sales increase of 19.5 percent, though that was partially offset by 26 permanent net store closures since last year's second quarter.

Net income for the quarter increased to 42 million dollars from 26.2 million dollars a year earlier.

Chico’s CEO and president Molly Langenstein told investors: “We posted another quarter of outstanding operating income and our highest-ever second quarter EPS, driven by continued robust digital and store sales growth as well as significant year-over-year gross margin rate expansion.”

She added that year-over-year the company “significantly reduced promotional activity and achieved more full-priced sales, higher average unit retail and better productivity for all three brands”.

For the full-year, Chico’s expects consolidated net sales of between 2.14 billion dollars and 2.17 billion dollars, compared to previous guidance of between 2.13 billion dollars and 2.16 billion dollars.

It expects earnings per diluted share of between 0.79 dollars and 0.87 dollars, up from its previous estimate of between 0.64 dollars and 0.74 dollars.